by Bhikkhu Noah Yuttadhammo

One day I’ll write an article about the Bhikkhuni situation… probably by then it will make me the black sheep of the international monastic community. But that is something about which I’ve never cared before, so why start now? Better to get started early so I can brace for the protests. Here’s some of my thoughts on the matter, sort of as an outline:

Points of argumentation in favour of Bhikkhuni ordination, with points of rebuttal:

1. Equality
   • First off, equality in terms of rank and position has no place in Buddhism – holding oneself as equal to another is a form of conceit.
   • Equality of opportunity – what opportunities are lacking to a nun that are afforded by Bhikkhuni ordination? Intrinsically, none that are of any importance. The problem here has nothing to do with equality, it has to do with discrimination towards women, something that is probably karmic retribution for one’s own prior discrimination towards women. I’ve never had any of my students complain of unfair treatment of the sexes on my watch; they are both locked in their rooms and forced to meditate for long hours of both day and night; when they come out, they look quite similar. Bhikkhunihood, like bhikkhuhood is a red herring. It is not “living the holy life as the Buddha wanted it”, it is conforming to a set of rules for communal harmony so that our practice is not disturbed. I can only see the disruption of meditation as the inevitable result of this huge battle of the sexes – by the time equality is had, both sides will be equally out of wack and the path will be that much farther out of grasp. Kind of reminds one of the battle for gender equality in the modern world; a great idea, really, but the result now is that, instead of the man working and the woman staying at home, both work and the kids are raised by the microwave and the television. Okay, so it’s not a perfect analogy, but the point is, as the Buddha told the first Bhikkhuni, “the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to self-aggrandizement, not to self-effacement; to overweaning ambition, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness, not to activated persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome’: You may definitely hold, ‘This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher’s instruction.’” (Gotami Sutta)
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Tags: Bhikkhu Yuttadhammo, Bhikkhuni Ordination, Bhikkhunis